Smarter Gov Tech, Stronger MerITocracy

Federal agencies are increasingly moving to cloud computing environments, but as cloud service options have become more diverse, the General Services Administration (GSA) is stepping up its efforts to help agencies with developing informed strategies to understand, anticipate, rationalize, and optimize major cloud architecture decisions. […]

Today, the government and private sector face similar problems with the daunting amount of cyber data, according to materials presented at GTC Spring 2022. “The volume and velocity of cyber data is extreme,” Rachel Allen, an NVIDIA senior data scientist, said at a GTC session, Transform Cybersecurity with Accelerated Data Science. “It’s estimated that over 90 percent of cyber data today is left on the floor, so to speak, and is never collected or analyzed at all.” […]

General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) will provide IT and network support to the U.S. Air Forces (USAF) stationed in Europe under a new $908 million contract, the Defense Department (DoD) announced. […]

cellphone
cybersecurity

New legislation introduced on July 15 by Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., aims to mandate penetration testing and other proactive cyber defense measures for some Federal agency networks, and to give the National Cyber Director (NCD) the authority to weed out risk conflicts between agencies that have overlapping cybersecurity missions. […]

Veterans Affairs

Senior staff at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) responsible for overseeing new training for the electronic health record (EHR) system at the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane, Wash., submitted inaccurate data to inspectors, according to a new report from the VA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG). […]

MerITocracy 2021

In today’s edition of Countdown to MerITocracy, Amazon Web Services (AWS) explains the driving forces behind the company’s innovative programs to bring more U.S. military veterans into cybersecurity and IT careers – and swell the ranks of the tech-ready as the Federal government competes for their talents. […]

CISA

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) “Shields Up” cybersecurity campaign launched in February to warn critical infrastructure operators and other U.S.-based organizations of cybersecurity threats spilling over from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is proving its worth over the first four months of operation. […]

Gerry Connolly

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., is looking for answers from the General Services Administration (GSA) regarding its transition to a new online identification system for the Federal government’s awards process that has proved difficult for many vendors. […]

FBI

The FBI is seeking input from equipment manufacturers for the evaluation of state-of-the-art network devices to support the agency’s aim for a network infrastructure technology refresh focused on digital transformation to an advanced, intelligent, and active architecture. […]

cloud
FCC
MerITocracy 2021

How can the government and the tech sector work together to help jump-start the next chapter of tech innovation in the United States? On July 21 – we’re going to find out. The countdown to MerITocracy 2022: American Innovation Forum is on. In the lead-up to the in-person forum in Washington, D.C., we are table-setting a host […]

Advances in security technology have forced cyber attackers to turn to the weakest link in the security chain – the human element. With 88 percent of security breaches caused by human error, technology teams across the Federal government are searching for ways to address the human side of cybersecurity to keep networks and systems safe […]

From the earliest days of the internet, bad actors have found ways to breach security protocols to disrupt operations, steal sensitive information, and even extort money through ransomware attacks. Cyber attackers have always looked for the path of least resistance when launching an attack. Before there were strong network protocols, they would attack the network […]

The fiscal year (FY) 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) approved by the House late on July 14 by a vote of 329-101 picked up hundreds of other bills along the way as approved amendments, including numerous government tech-related legislative items ranging from long-sought Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) enhancements to a bill that would wrap Federal agency CIOs more tightly into agency planning processes. […]

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said in a new report that women make up only 29.3 percent of the Federal government’s employees in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) roles, and that the government has a lot of work in front of it to begin narrowing that gap.  […]

Emerging tech

Because the legislative process often is slow and lags the emergence of new technology, Congress needs to provide a legislative framework that gives Federal agencies the resources they need to adopt promising technologies more quickly, said Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., on July 14. […]

VA
capitol washington dc senate house congress-min
IRS

The IRS has agreed with a Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommendation that it pilot test the use of videoconferencing technology as part of its ongoing efforts to meet with third-party tax preparers to educate them on compliance obligations and tax rules. Based on results from the pilot, IRS may expand on-line meetings with preparers. […]

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), which houses the fastest supercomputer in the world, has announced that Dr. Thomas Zacharia will retire as the laboratory’s director at the end of 2022. […]

TMF

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a decision today stating that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the General Services Administration (GSA) have the authority to reduce reimbursement requirements on agencies that receive Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) awards, but can’t waive the reimbursement requirement completely. […]

funding
cybersecurity

The Cyber Safety Review Board (CSRB) – in its inaugural report released today – praised the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) for its response to the ongoing Log4j software vulnerability, and found that to date there have not been any significant Log4J-based attacks on U.S. critical infrastructure. […]

federal workers workforce IT workers employees millennial -min

The Department of Defense (DoD) has announced its 2022 class of Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellows (VBFF) – made up of nine distinguished faculty scientists and engineers – to advance transformative, university-based fundamental research. […]

Categories